Tauranga Police are investigating an alleged armed robbery of a Gate Pa butchery after a man broke into the premises and threatened to stab the employee with a butchers knife.

The Aussie Butcher at Gate Pa Shopping Centre was robbed early this morning.

An employee was working alone at The Aussie Butcher at Gate Pa Shopping Centre when he was attacked by a man holding a butchers knife with a 20cm blade just before 7am this morning.

Senior Sergeant Carl Purcell says the employee was at the front of the shop putting tills into registers and uncovering meat when he was robbed at knifepoint of money from the till and safe as well as the butcher's knife.

'A lone male entered the shop through the insecure back door armed himself with a butchers knife from the premises, moved through to the front of the shop where he confronted the employee with the knife.”

Sergeant Purcell says the alleged offender demanded the money from the till and access to the shop's safe while holding the knife to the employee's neck.

'The male was making stabbing motions with the knife the employee's neck, who gave the male the till and opened the safe for the offender.

'The male then ran from the scene out the back door and into the service lane running along the back of a series of shops in the centre.”

He says the employee suffered no physical injuries from the incident but is 'justifiably shaken by the events”.

The alleged offender is described as a thin maori man, in his late 20s, about 5ft 8inches tall.

The man is believed to have been seen wearing a black beanie with a red scarf pulled across his lower face. He was also wearing a dark coloured jacket and or hoody, say police.

A Baker's Delight employee, who did not wish to be named, was working at the bakery two shops down from the butchery when the robbery occured.

'I was here when it happened but we are a couple of shops down from them so I didn't really see much happen.”

She says workers at The Fresh Market next door to the butchery saw more than what she did.

The manager of the fruit and vegetables store did not wish to comment.

When SunLive contacted The Aussie Butcher today, an employee said they did not wish to comment on the incident.

Officer in charge Detective Sergeant Schraftt wants to hear from members of the public who may know who the alleged offender is or who have information relating to this robbery.

Information may be given anonymously by ringing Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 or by ringing Tauranga Police on 07-5774300.